“Revitalizing squadrons” was named General David Goldfein’s top priority when he took over as US Air Force’s Chief in 2016. Executive Leadership Group – meaning Wendi leading, plus me and several ELG colleagues – were asked to provide organizational behavior expertise to the Air Force team directed to tackle the problem (hey, they hire the very best!) and led by Maj General Stephen Davis.

The masters of innovation–Netflix, Salesforce.com, Google, Tesla Motors–aren’t trying to innovate. They are trying to dominate. These winners keep winning because they know which rocks to break and which targets to shoot for.

“Innovation sandbox” is a term coined by the late C.K. Prahalad. The gist: For a truly quantum innovation in either goods or services, (1) set a really high bar for what “good” looks like, (2) identify a small handful of aggressive constraints, and then, within that “sandbox” (3) begin a radical re-examination of your assumptions and self-imposed limits as you develop your breakthrough design. That combination forces you to, as Apple says, “think different.”

A scowl crosses the face of some people when they hear the term “strategic planning.” These people have been to the off-sites with bright ideas and sticky notes, they’ve seen the slick “final plan” with cool clip art, and then they’ve seen . . . nothing.